Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or its sequels, spin-off and related characters. All is the property of Man of Action and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

…Before Its Ever Even...

Chapter Eleven: Lost Little Lambs

The mapping node was relatively untouched. In perfect working order with just the barest layer of purple dust from the asteroid it was fixed to. Nothing seemed the least bit amiss about it. Of course, the team that Magister Chaz sent out to look for Warden Rook and his team weren't expecting to find anything wrong with the node anyway. It was in excellent working order when they left the base, the signal perfect, and it continued to perform admirably while en rout. If Rook and his team were attacked, it was not anywhere near the new mapping node.

The team leader, a female Uxorite named Frey, surveyed the drifting landscape around the asteroid they were currently on. According to the mapping node's data this particular asteroid had drifted several kilometers since the node was activated. It was no longer in the same spot it was in when Rook and his team passed by. The landscapes surrounding it would not be the same.

But that did not mean that Rook and the others didn't pass by some of them on their way back to base.

If they passed by a settlement of some kind. A farm, or a holdfast, maybe even something as lucky as a village, someone where might have seen them and be able to point Magister Frey and her team in the right direction. The gods willing, maybe Rook and the other stopped in said hypothetical settlement for rest and would still be there when Frey arrived. It was unlikely, but not beyond the realm of possibility.

"This marker has moved since they were here." She informed her team. "We widen the search. Look for settlements or travelers that might have seen them. Question anyone they might have crossed paths with."

Rook tripped and almost went tumbling into the back of the person in front of him. He caught himself mere milometers from his nose impacting Aggrenna's spear-holster slung between her should blades. Saved from causing a scene, and possibly inciting his captor's ire, the Revonnahgander glanced back at what he had tripped on.

The pointed tip of a crystal poked up from out of the dirt. A bright yellow that did not match with the darker hues of purple and indigo of the rock around it. Curious, Rook bent down to pick it up. But the crystal was stuck in the ground tightly and the Revonnahgander could not pluck it so casually.

"What ya got there, sir?" Arys asked, hovering just a few steps behind his commander. The Lewodan had seen his trip and stumble but opted not to draw attention to it.

"There is some kind of mineral imbedded in this asteroid." Rook explained.

Aggrenna paused in her step to turn around and look at the two Plumbers. Not a glare of impatience at them for stopping without leave and holding up the rest of the caravan. But more of a mild curiosity at what had facinated them so. After all, they might not be native to the Void, but Rook had been Warden of the Void for the better part of a decade now and should know enough about the place to no longer feel the need to gawk like a tourist. Aggrenna's attention fell to the crystal they were bent over and her eyes flashed with recognition.

"Its coremite." She said matter of factly, as if her only intention was just to supply a name to her Warden, and there was no other reason to pay the sparkling yellow rock any more mind. "We should keep moving."

"I have heard of coremite." The Revonnahgander smiled with recognition. This was something he had read in Ben's file, and Rook had read Ben's file many, many, many times. He could quote it by writ. "Coremite is a mineral native to the Null Void and possesses unique properties. Dr. Animo, when confined to the Null Void and acting under the alias 'D'Void' once used coremite in an escape attempt."

Rook then remembered the other details of that particular case in Ben's file. That coremite, when amassed together in large quantities could destabilize the Null Void itself. Animo/D'Void planned to use it to rip open a hole between the Null Void and real space -and Earth. He was stopped, of course. Ben, with the help of Max Tennyson, and the Plumbers Helpers were able to defeat him, thwart his plans, and save the Null Void. But nobody ever addressed the fact that the Null Void was filled with a mineral that could rip through the very fabric separating the pocket dimension from the rest of the universe. Rook looked back up.

Aggregor had joined his daughter glaring down at Revonnahgander. "We should move on from this spot, Warden Rook."

Was the Osmosian nervous? Did he not feel comfortable lingering close to a vein of the mineral?

"Does the coremite present a danger to us?" He asked.

After all, if it's unique energy could destabilize the very fabric of the Null Void, then it was not outside the realm of possibility that it might give off radiation that could make a being ill. Then again, if it's unique energy could destabilize the Void, that meant that the coremite must have powerful energy, and Aggregor was Osmosian. Osmosians lost a bit of their sanity and control when they absorbed potent energy. It didn't necessarily have to be a tanger to the whole party that the coremite presented. The coremite could just be a danger to Aggregor himself. Aggregor and his young son Shirahk. They were the only actual Osmosians in the party.

Aggregor's lip curled in a sneer. "Coremite is a thing." He said. "It is no more dangerous or safe than any other thing."

In other words, it was just a rock. A rock could be innocent and mundane, laying inert on the ground. Or it could be put towards progress and growth, a stone in a wall, a part contributing to shelter and protection. Or, as with anything in the universe -anything in the multiverse- a rock could be used used for violence and destruction, a weapon. But it was not the thing that decided how it was used, but rather the mind moving the hand that wielded it. It was by the will of beings that made an object dangerous or mundane.

So then, why the sudden tension and -dare Rook say it?- fear of being near a vein of the mineral. If the there was no danger from the rock, only beings whom might seek the rock...

A little slow to the conclusion, Rook blinked wide eyes at the Osmosian. "Aggregor, is there someone in the Void trying to mine and collect coremite again?"

Aggregor did not answer. Instead, the Osmosian turned his attention back to scanning the horizon. They were nearing the edge of the asteroid they were on and would need everyone's attention focused on crossing to the next one, instead of lingering on possible yet immaterial dangers. Lest someone fall and be lost. "We need to keep moving." He repeated. "Aggrenna, have Shirahk help you keep these two in line. Make sure they don't hold up the group again."

Hooking one hand under Rook's arm, Aggrenna pulled the Revonnahgander to his feet. Her eyes flicked to her younger brother before she lifted her chin at Arys. "Shirahk, keep an eye on that one. Its seems our Warden here requires special attention."

"Ha! You got stuck with the baby-sitter!" The young Osmosian taunted the Revonnahgander.

Truth be told, the boy's taunting actually put him a little at ease. Usually when a captor said a captive require 'special attention' it did not mean something as gentle and kind as a personal escort. Aggrenna pulled Rook along and the caravan continued on its journey.

Magister Frey and her team came across a holdfast some thirty kilometers from the mapping node's newest location.

It was a short building, only two stories tall. Round and dome topped. A canvas canopy over the main entrance that might have at one time been some shade of blue, but was now faded to a sandy dusk color that couldn't decide if it was gray like the fabric it was spun from or brown like the dust of the asteroid it was on. Hanging from the canopy was a banner.

Similarly faded, thought not nearly as drastically. The banner must not be as old as the holdfast from which it was hung. On that banner was a stylized image of a pickaxe and a broken chain, the emblem of the Free and Independent Fortress of Incarcecon. A sign to any that might come by this way that the holdfast was under Incarcercon's protection. This asteroid's rotation must intersect with the former prison's path at some point. They were nowhere near Incarcecon at the moment, but the landscape wasn't static in the Null Void. Things moved. At some point this holdfast would move back within Incarcercon's sphere of influence.

Frey wasn't sure of the Plumbers' standing with Incarcecon at the moment. The Plumbers' status as 'allies' or 'enemies' of the former prison shifted with the moods of its leadership.

Trukk hated the Plumbers both on principal and for personal reasons. He had been a smalltime criminal in real space before a miscalculated gig landed him a life sentence disproportionate to the crime he committed. Trukk was sent to Incarcecon in the Null Void to be forgotten about and rot out the rest of his days in obscurity. He resented the justice system that put him there, the warden that abused and over worked him and his fellow inmates, and the law enforcement organization that put him there in the first place. The Plumbers. As far as Trukk was concerned, nothing good came from fraternizing with Plumbers.

But Quince was of a different mind. What his original crime was that landed him in the Null Void and in Incarcecon, Frey didn't know. Unlike Warden Rook, she had not studied every single file of every single inmate sent to the Null Void. But she did know from talking to other Plumbers that Quince was of a cooler head. Slow to anger and disinclined to snap judgments. He balanced out Trukk's hot-headedness making them an effective leadership team for the Free and Independent Fortress. More importantly, Quince recognized the permanence of the Plumbers presence in the Null Void. They weren't going anywhere any time soon -neither of them were. It was best to try and get along with ones neighbors.

Even if Magister Frey wasn't sure of the Plumbers current standing with Incarcecon, so long as Quince was still one of its leaders, she could at least be sure that no one associated with the fortress would kill her and her team on sight. They would at least allow her to get a word or two in first, before they decided they hated the Plumbs and opened fire.

Stepping under the canopy, Frey opened the holdfast door.

Inside, the first floor was all one wide room, filled with tables and chairs. A bar with shelves of bottles -presumably liquor- was pushed to one side. Against the opposite wall was the base of the stairs, spiraling up to the second floor where Frey imagined the sleeping quarters and rooms for rent were. She scanned the space one more time for hostiles.

Aside from the bartender -presumably the keeper of this holdfast- a server, and a couple of scattered patrons sitting at the tables, there weren't many beings there. They offered her and her team curious -even suspicious- glances, but that was about standard for a native of the Void when seeing a contingent of Plumbers pass by. There was no open hostility clear in any of their expressions, so Frey decided that today Incarcecon was neutral to them. Crossing the open space, she walked right up to the bar.

"Good day to you." She flashed a friendly smile that didn't quite reach any of her three eyes.

"Day's never good when you Plumbs come sniffin' 'round." The bartender pulled out a dirty dish rag and began wiping the bar. "So, what ya after this time? Thinkin' them Rooters 'ave been smugglin' Dream Dust from the Free Fortress? Did a Neth eat one o' ya boys an' ya out looking for revenge? Or are you lot finally gonna actually do somethin' about them Way Bad's your precious Hero, Ben Tennyson, let loose in our Void over twenty years ago?"

Frey opted not to comment on any of his suggestions. Instead, she asked, as if he hadn't spoken at all. "Have you seen any other Plumbers pass this way? Within the last two twenty-four hour cycles?"

"Nope." Muttered the bartender, not looking up from his wiping of the bar. The rag was so dirty, all he was really doing was spreading around grease. But it was something to do with his hands. It kept his hands above the counter where the Plumbs could see them, but also gave him something to do. An easy motion to keep him grounded and not allow himself to be intimidated by these self-proclaimed 'peacekeepers' of the Null Void. "I ain't seen no Plumbs pass through 'ere since 11,000 bit ol' Hobble's antennae off."

This comment earn a soft rumbling of jeers from those seated at the tables. Some even rapping their knuckles on the plasteel or wood of the tables with appreciation.

Magister Frey pursed her reptilian lips. She had never crossed paths with Kevin 11,000 herself. She had never seen the Osmosian in action. Only heard the accounts of him from others. Fellow Plumbers like Warden Rook whom had known him as a friend, or natives of the Null Void that spoke of Kevin as if he were some kind of demi-god, a creature to be both feared and revered in equal measure. Kevin was more myth than man to her mind.

"Kevin Levin is not here." She informed him. "But we are. And I demand your cooperation."

"Oh, you demand, do ya!" Now the bartender looked up at her, meeting Magister Frey's three eyes with all four of his own. His filthy dishtowel forgotten on the counter top. "An' on who's authority do ya demand?"

Frey bristled under such blatant and bold disrespect -even outright challenge. "By authority of the Magistrata and Plumber Command."

"Magistrata ain't here, neither." The bartender informed her. "You lot come from outside the Void. Acting for someone outside the Void. After years -after generations- of dumpin' yer living garbage in our Void. An' you come in 'ere and demand I cooperate wit' you! You ain't got no authority to demand nothin' from me or mine."

"And who's authority do you answer to?" Frey asked. She remembered the emblem of the former prison outside. "Quince and Trukk of Incarcecon?"

"I pay a tithe to the Free Fortress when my rock passes that way." Nodded the bartender. "In exchange they gimme an' my place protection when its needed. But I don' answer to them. There's only one power all souls in the Void must answer to."

There was more soft rumbling from those sitting at the tables. More rapping of knuckles on plasteel. Someone mutter the words 'King in the Void', and it was echoed by another. 'King in the Void'. Soon it was a low chant, making the dimly lit holdfast shudder with a kind of life of its own. 'King in the Void. King in the Void. King in the Void.'

"There is only one authority in the Null Void." The bartender informed her, informed all five of the Plumbers of her team. Making eye-contact with each of them before retuning his attention to Magister Frey. "And his name is Levin."

Coming to Frey's aid, another member of her team, Magister Roose, placed a gloved paw on the greasy bar counter. "Kevin Levin is a Plumber again. He's been returned to his rank of Magister and works directly under Max Tennyson. Levin -your great authority- is one of us."

The bartender only snorted.

"No." He gave a clip of a laugh. "No. 11,000 ain't one o' you. 11,000 is as far from bein' one o' you as I am. He might hold your titles, wear your armor, carry your badge. But he ain't no Plumb. In his bones 11,000 is the stuff o' the Void. He might be restin' in your ranks right now, but that's all he's doin'. Restin'. Biding his time. Until he comes back to us. Kevin Levin is a man o' the Void. He belongs to the Void."

The chant of 'King in the Void' rumbled through the holdfast again.

Roose opened his mouth so say something more. But Frey put a pacifying hand on his shoulder.

"So, you haven't seen any other Plumbers recently?" She asked, trying to stay on topic. She had never encountered Kevin Levin herself, but all this talk of him -as if he were something more than just a mortal man- was giving her the creeps.

"The only Plumbs I seen are the five little lost lambs I'm lookin' at right now." The bartender informed them. "Now, talk might be free, but my time ain't. So either buy a drink or a room, or else get outta my place!"

Frey grit her teeth. Hand still on Roose's shoulder, she backed up from the bar, pulling her companion along with her. They rejoined the other three members of their team and retreated from the holdfast. Warden Rook and his team didn't pass through here, of that she was sure. If they had, the bartender would have been complaining about Plumbers breezing through like they owned the place. Besides, if Rook and his team had stopped here, it was entirely possible that they might have actually found them still here, or else crossed paths with them on their way out. Since none of these things happened, it was safe to assume that Rook, Brom, and Arys hadn't traveled this way. Frey and her team would have to continue their search.

"Thank you for your time." She nodded to the bartender.

"Hope ya fine who you're lookin' for!" The bartender called after them. "Be a real shame they were still lost when 11,000 returns to claim 'is enemies!"

Outside, Roose shut the door on the bartender's laughter. It really was unnerving how these Null Void natives -both settlers and convicts alike- spoke of Magister Levin as if he were some kind of vengeful deity. Someone who could be as benevolent as a god, yet vengeful as a devil. It was almost like they didn't even see him as the mortal man he was. Kevin wasn't real to them. Kevin was an idea. A legent told to small children -and not so small children- to frighten them into behaving. Be good, or else 11,000 will come for you. Plumbers go home, or else 11,000 will come for you.

Well, 11,000 was no god. He was no devil. He was just a man. A man who lived on Earth. Had a wife. Had a kid. Worked a job. Worked a job for cripes sake! What kind of god or devil was there that worked a day job? None. Kevin Levin was no god. Kevin Levin was nobody.

After crossing to a different asteroid, and then a different one after that, and then a different one after that, Rook kept an eye out for more coremite. Taking better note of where he put his feet to avoid tripping again, but also scanning any rock-formations, fissures, or cliffs they might pass. Looking for veins of the mineral. If it was capable of ripping open a hole in the fabric between dimensions, then it needed to be noted where the mineral occurred naturally in the Void.

"You walk slow." Aggrenna complained beside him. She was not enjoying her baby-sitting duties one bit. "Are you injured?"

"No." Rook assured her. "I am quite healthy, given my lack of sleep and excess of physical activity."

"Then move faster." The woman commanded. "We are doing you a service by taking you back to your base. The least you could do in return is not slow us down."

In front of them, Rook heard her younger brother snort. Shirahk turned his head to look back at them grinning. "Its really great hearing someone else get a lecture from her."

"Pay attention to your own charge!" Aggrenna snapped at him.

The boy turned back around and, as more of a show for his sister than out of any real need, prodded Arys in the back with his blunted spear tip.

Now it was the Lewodan's turn to look back at them with a mildly annoyed glare and a growl. "Thanks."

Both siblings shared a laugh at the Plumbers' expense.

Then the asteroid they were on gave a sudden and abrupt jolt. All four of them were knocked off their feet. Both Plumbers, and their sibling guards. Rook landed on Aggrenna in a very undignified position.

"Apologies. Excuse me."

But she shoved him off herself, not caring about his delicate puritan sensibilities. Asteroids in the Null Void drifted and moved all the time. That was nothing to get excited about. But they did not shake and jolt. Earthquakes were not a thing in the Null Void. The only thing that might jolt an asteroid was if it collided with another of similar size and mass, or else a creature larger and more powerful than the drifting rock.

Pushing himself back to his feet, Rook followed the direction his captor was looking with his own eyes and saw the reason for the abrupt jerk of the land.

A Way Bad loomed in front of them.

The edge of the asteroid coming up to just above the creature's waist. It was rubbing its elbow as if it was the floating rock that had collided with it instead of the other way around. How dare the landscape commit so heinous an act as to drift into its personal space! The creature turned its red-eyed glare at the asteroid and took note that there were beings on it. Tiny, delicious looking, little beings. It roared with a feral scream and lifted one long-fingered hand.

"Scatter!" Commanded Aggregor. Grabbing the nearest person to him, he pushed them away in one direction before jumping back the opposite way himself. His spear was in his hands in moments, doing some impressive spinning and twirling moves. "Aggrenna! Olennor! To me! Shirahk, stay with the Plumbers."

"I can help!" The boy protested. His own spear with its blunted training tip was ready in his hands.

"Do as father says!" Aggrenna snapped at him. She was already abandoning her post next to Rook and was sprinting to join her father, spear in hands.

"He's impossible to deal with when you're threatened." Olennor added. "Stay with the Plumbers, if they truly care as much as they'd like us to believe, they'll keep you safe."

"May I have my proto-tool back!" Rook asked, sounding more like a demand in his haste. He had no problems protecting children. But if they expected him to act as protector, then he would need his weapon back.

Without comment Aggrenna shrugged the weapon off her shoulder and tossed it to her sister. Olennor caught it one handed before tossing it to Rook.

"I have powers!" Shirahk shouted at the both of them.

But his sisters, and his father were no longer paying attention to him. They were preoccupied fending off the Way Bad, trying to give the rest of the caravan the opportunity to escape before they themselves retreated to rejoin the group.

Shirahk looked like he was about ready to bolt for the fight. Ignore his father's orders and run head-long into danger armed with nothing more than a blunt training spear and whatever Osmosian powers he kept mentioning but Rook had yet to actually see evidence of. The Revonnahgander placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. In that moment, he very much reminded Rook of Kenny or Devlin. They would also ignore the direct orders of the adults around them and jump into the fight, inexperienced and ill prepared.

"Some of the others may need you more." Rook told him, nodding to the rest of the caravan.

There were elderly in their group, and children younger than Shirahk. The gap between the asteroid they were currently on and the next closest that was also a safe distance from the Way Bad was a stretch. And the caravan only had two Null Guardians which were already weighted down with gear. The others would need help making the crossing.

Reluctantly, Shirahk nodded.

"Arys, you can fly, take the smaller children and get them to safety." Rook commanded, running up to the ledge separating their asteroid from the next.

He shifted his proto-tool into a crossbow of a sort and shot a line at the asteroid. A long cord of nylon connected to his crossbow at one end and an anchor at the other. Rook tugged on the line a few times to make sure the anchor was secure and not in danger of coming loose or falling out. Satisfied that it would hold, he shifted the proto-tool again. Braced against the ground of the rock they were on and his own body, Rook made a the nylon rope into a zip-line.

"Everyone get across!" He commanded. "Send the grip back for the next person once you land. Anyone who needs help crossing, Arys can help you."

Arys, whom already had a small child under each arm looked up at that. With a mild pout on his face he muttered, "Oh, good. I was worried I wouldn't have enough to do."

"What about me?" Shirahk asked. The Warden made it seem like he was going to be of vital use in helping the rest of the caravan get away from the Way Bads.

"I need you to make sure no one gets left behind." Rook told him. "Magister Arys and I are strangers here. We don't know everyone in your group and won't be able to tell if anyone is missing."

Shirahk gave a little hmph of disappointment. That job sounded a bit more like baby-sitting, and baby-sitting had been what he'd been doing all day. Tagging along with the damn Plumbs all day. Making sure neither of them fell behind, stopped to look at the scenery, or held up the group. He was a little sick of keeping the group moving.

Behind him, Shirahk heard the Way Bad give a loud, deep snarl and he turned to see that Olennor had stabbed it in the finger-crotch right between its middle and pointer fingers. The monster threw her off, flicking its wrist as if shewing away an offensive fly. For one heart-stopping moment, Shirahk was terrified his sister might go flying off the asteroid and be lost to the Void. But at the last second before the ground beneath her disappeared, Aggrenna dropped her spear, both arms lancing out to grab her younger sister by the ankle. Olennor hung over the edge of the asteroid, the only thing keeping her from falling her older sister's grip. The Way Bad was about to bring its hand down on both girls. Grabbing them, or crushing them -the gigantic creature could easily do either.

Aggregor rushed between them. Thrusting his own spear up in the mutant To'kustar's palm.

It howled in pain again and withdrew the hand -taking Aggregor's spear with it- and dipping a fountain of blood over the whole landscape.

Turning his back on the creature for the moment, Aggregor knelt down next to his daughters to Aggrenna pulled her sister up.

"You dropped your weapon." He growled at the girl.

"Would you rather I had dropped Olennor?" She growled back, matching his tone.

"Don't sass me, girl." Aggregor commanded, sounding tired and old. As if this was something he'd had need to continue repeating for years with little effect.

Together they pulled Olennor back up onto the asteroid and she climbed to her feet -panting. She had nearly died -or, if not died, had nearly been lost to free-fall in the Void. "And here I thought I'd finally be rid of you all."

But the three of them didn't have time to stand there and banter. The Way Bad had pulled the spear out of its hand, like plucking a thorn, and threw the weapon out to be lost to the empty space and fluctuating forces of the Null Void. Fresh blood gushed from its hand anew as it turned its attention, not back to its hostile opponents, but the more passive prey fleeing it. The Way Bad turned its eyes toward the scattering non-combatants of the caravan. The children and the elderly Rook and Arys were trying to help to the next closest asteroid.

Shirahk saw the monster move towards the Revonnahgander holding the zip-line.

They young Osmosian didn't think, he just acted. As the Way Bad's hand hame down over the Warden of the Void, Shirahk dropped his blunted training spear and used his powers instead.

The adrenaline pumping through him giving him speed, the Osmosian reached within himself and drew out the power that he'd always had, that he had inherited from his father, Aggregor the Warlord of the Andromeda galaxy. A mutation that was the combination of an Orishan, Amperi, Talpaedan, Geochelone Aerio, and a Protosapian-B. Aggregor's ultimate Osmosian mutation, and just as Kevin passed his 'Kevin 11' mutation on to his son, Shirahk inherited Aggregor's.

Placing himself between the Plumber and the Way Bad, the Osmosian shot a blast of radioactive Protosapian-B energy at the creature. It caught the mutant To'kustar in the eyes. But the blast also threw the young and still inexperienced boy off balance and he went stumbling into the back of the very Plumber he was trying to protect.

Both Plumber and mutated Osmosian went tumbling over the edge of the asteroid.

"Rook!" Arys shouted after his commander. But the Lewodan was already carrying one heavy charge. He couldn't dive to save the Revonnahgander.

"Shirahk!" Aggregor sprinted across the asteroid. He'd just saved one child from falling into the Void, only to lose another the exact same way. Not just any other, but his youngest. His last. The last child his late lover gave him, and the only one that was like him.

Peering over the edge, Aggregor searched the crimson and scarlet space. Eyes straining for any sign of his wayward son -or even the damn Plumber that had fallen with him.

But Aggregor saw nothing.

Just endless red space and drifting rock.

"Shirahk!" He shouted again.

But the Void did not call back to him. His son was gone, and Rook, the Warden of the Void, gone with him.